Kyrgyzstan seeks unity through election

Kyrgyz voters cast their ballots yesterday to create the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, in an election many hope can unite the country four months after the worst bloodshed in its modern history.

Unique among elections in ex-Soviet Central Asia, voters have no idea which party will win the majority of seats in a new parliament and select a prime minister who will attempt to knit together a country plagued by political and ethnic divisions.The results will be known later this week.

"Our people do not suffer from amnesia. Our people know their history. They will rise quickly to create a parliamentary republic and protect it themselves," President Roza Otunbayeva said after casting her vote in a music school in Bishkek.

After nearly two decades of failed authoritarian rule, interim leaders want to empower a prime minister to restore stability in the former Soviet republic.